Dysart - Fife

Prior to the 16th century, very little is known about the history of the town. The earliest record of the town’s existence is a document about a papal decision between Dysart Kirk and Dunfermline Abbey in 1220. Another record followed in 1245, this time about the reconsecration of Dysart Kirk undertaken by David de Bernham of St Andrews. The initial role of the town, like many communities in Scotland, was to serve the church and landowners by resolving civic matters and dealing individually with property issues. The first port has been said to date as far back as 1450. This helped the export of coal and salt with the town’s trading partner, the Low Countries. A man-made harbour was eventually built, but could only be used at low tide with limited space. The damage caused by the jetty which was commonly known as the “east haven of Dysart” temporarily cut short the function of the east pier in the mid-17th century. The harbour was later extensively rebuilt in 1829-31 with the assistance of Robert Stephenson, to include an inner basin with a nearby quarry at the harbour head and an extension of the east pier which would be raised and pointed southwards. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the town went through hard times with many residents, particularly skippers, being killed in the wars of covenanting (1644-1645) and the five-year occupation of Oliver Cromwell between 1651 and 1656. However, the salt trade prospered between the town and its two trading partners - Netherlands and the Baltic Countries with production thriving between 1570 and 1630. Subsequently, the town was given two nicknames: salt burgh (for the salt industry keeping the fish fresh for export) and later Little Holland (for the Dutch influence in Dysart’s buildings inspired by the shipowners who went there). The first coal pit in the town - known as Lady Blanche - opened towards the end of the 16th century. Two new pits - Frances and Randolph - would follow by the middle of the 17th century as coal began to succeed the salt trade. Meanwhile, the harbour was revived with the imports of wine and spirits being sent to other harbours at Leith, Dundee and Perth. The town’s prosperity declined in the late 17th century and by 1715 the disrepair of the harbour was noted.:210-211 Food shortages resulting from the export trade led to the town becoming a centre of the 1720 food riots, with estimages of 1,000 to 2,000 protestors on the streets:193-194 and troops being overpowered and disarmed.